LEGISLATIVE HOPPER

Governor's goals: Win some, lose some
In his State of the State address to the General Assembly earlier this year, Gov. Jim Edgar outlined significant goals for the spring legislative session. Here is an update on how his agenda has fared so far:

Successes
• Legislators approved charter schools. Fifteen of these schools, which will be able to operate free of most state rules and regulations, will be located in Chicago; 15 will be set up in the suburbs; and another 15 will be allowed downstate.

• At Edgar's urging, lawmakers approved returning speed limits on county roads to 55 miles per hour. A repeal of federal speed limits otherwise would have allowed speeds of 65 miles per hour on those roads.

• Business owners will pay reduced unemployment insurance taxes under a measure approved by legislators.

Still pending
• Lawmakers appear poised to approve Edgar's call for an expansion of the state's prison parole system. The governor asked for an increase in the number of parole officers.

• Legislators must reconcile two bills restricting the so-called "eavesdropping law," which allows businesses to monitor employees' phone conversations. Edgar proposes restricting the law to telemarketers.

• Edgar's proposal to merge seven human service agencies into one appears iffy. Senate Republicans appear more willing to consider merging three departments.

Unlikely
• Lawmakers in the governor's party oppose his short- and long-range education funding plans. Much of Edgar's school budget for the coming year was predicated on changing the state's flat 20 percent tax on gambling riverboats to a graduated rate, with the expected $67 million in proceeds going toward education-related expenses. Instead, Republicans floated a plan to cut other budget items and delay payment on state bills to fund education. Legislative leaders also killed an Edgar-backed proposal to place an education-related constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The amendment would have asked voters if the state should increase its share of school funding.

• The governor's proposal to build a domed stadium adjacent to the McCormick Place Convention Center had not been addressed by lawmakers at press time.

-Jennifer Halperin

Betrothed or not betrothed? That is the issue
Conservative lawmakers have been battling their liberal counterparts in legislatures all over the country over same-sex marriages. Most states neither recognize nor ban marriages between gay people. But a court case in Hawaii is likely to lead to legal recognition of such marriages there.

That expectation has led to a flurry of efforts in state legislatures to ban recognition of same-sex marriages, including one moving through Illinois' General Assembly sponsored by suburban Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Without such a measure, supporters say, other states could be subject to an article in the federal Constitution requiring states to honor other states' rules and decisions. A handful of states, including Georgia, have passed such laws, while a dozen others have voted them down.

The resulting patchwork of varying state laws on the issue eventually will have to be resolved in court, says Ronald Rotunda, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But in the end, he says, pushing for new laws banning same-sex marriages in states that already fail to recognize such unions could amount to little more than semantics.

"It's a way for politicians to pretend to their constituents that they're doing something meaningful," he says.

-Jennifer Halperin

Take me out to the... symphony orchestra?
A recent study showed that cultural institutions in St. Louis accounted for more admissions in a year than the city's sports teams would if they sold put every home game! Keep in mind that the Blues and the Rams are playing in highly ballyhooed new facilities, built with considerable public support. Furthermore, the cultural activities are calculated to bring $1 billion into the local economy.

It makes a person wonder whether Chicago's resistance to further civic support for new sports facilities (for the Bears) is correct, if perhaps attributable to the wrong (political) motives. Maybe some help for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera and the Art Institute would be better investments.

Or maybe the Illinois Arts Council, which has sustained deep cuts from the legislature, should pitch for economic development funds.

-F. Mark Siebert

8 ¦ May 1996 Illinois Issues

Groups join to protect prairie in Chicago area
In a city that prides itself on skyscrapers, high-rises and traffic jams, "Chicago Wilderness" would seem an oxymoron. Actually, it's the name of a joint venture by nearly three dozen conservation groups in Illinois to preserve more than 200,000 acres of metropolitan-area land that includes a globally significant concentration of rare native plants and animals.

The endangered Karner Blue butterfly depends upon Illinois' wilderness prairies for survival.

The collaboration — which includes private institutions such as museums and zoos, forest preserve districts in the six counties surrounding Chicago, federal and state agencies and other local and national environmental organizations — will pool resources to address regional conservation priorities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service is providing $700,000 in seed money for the effort. Projects will be funded through a variety of sources, including member organizations, private donors, foundations, corporations and government grants.

The Chicago Wilderness region stretches from the Chiwaukee Prairie in southeast Wisconsin, around the southwest tip of Lake Michigan, through northeast Illinois and across northern Indiana to the Dunes. In Illinois, Chicago Wilderness lands are scattered throughout six counties — Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will. Included in the area's resources are wetlands, glacial lakes, rivers and some of the most pristine tallgrass prairies and oak woodlands surviving in the world. Less than one-hundredth of 1 percent of Illinois' original tallgrass prairies remain, and even smaller percentages of natural oak woodlands.

-Beverley Scobell

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH

Holy Cow!
It is still early enough in the baseball season that even the Cubs can legitimately claim a shot at a pennant, so we thought it fitting to direct fans' fantasies to the home plate ... er, home pages of their favorite boys of summer.

The place to start is MLB@BAT, the home page for The Show, at http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/. There you will find a scorecard and game digest, highlights of games, a "photo of the day," a library, a clubhouse shop and pointers for each team. From there you can travel the country, looking up your favorite team, such as http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/u/baseball/mlb/teams/CHC/index.html, where you'll find the Cubs' roster, batting and pitching reports, player information, team history, a listing of minor league affiliates and 1996 schedule. Same address — changing to CHW/index.html for the White Sox or STL/index.html for the Cardinals — yields other home pages of home teams. Incidentally, both the Sox and Cards have their own official Web pages, which can be accessed through MLB@BAT or at http://www.stlcardinals.com or http://www.chisox.com/. These sites have in-depth information such as team histories and background on the fields where they play, merchandise (naturally) and ticket information.

Everything you need except the ballpark franks.

-Donald Sevener

Medical miracles come to Illinois, R.F.D.
Television made the scene familiar long before doctors on "ER" were even out of med school. A doctor jolts a patient with a few volts and the heart monitor begins to blip. This medical miracle is a defibrillator, a device that can revive heart attack victims. Until recently, defibrillators were as rare in rural areas as excitement on a Saturday night.

Last fall, for the second year, the state spent $50,000 to buy defibrillators for 10 rural ambulance services. In late February, 56 other volunteer emergency medical service squads learned they were receiving matching grants totalling approximately $135,000 from The Prudential Insurance Company of America to buy defibrillators.

According to the Department of Public Health, about one-third of the 2,100 licensed private and municipal ambulances in Illinois do not carry defibrillators. The defibrillators can stop irregular heart contractions and restore the heart's natural beating pattern. A spokesman for the insurance company says research shows that a combination of quick response by EMS squads and prompt defibrillation can more than double the survival rate of heart attack victims.

The 56 EMS squads in 37 counties receiving the Prudential grants through its Helping Hearts Program serve a combined population of more than 275,000 and responded to nearly 4,000 cardiac emergencies last year.

-Beverley Scobell

Illinois Issues May 1996 ¦ 9

BRIEFLY

Photograph courtesy Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Maurice A. Wright directs the brake research at SIUC. He'll head the new center.

HIT THE BRAKES

SIU gets big bucks to study advanced friction
Putting a stop to things has become something of a specialty for some folks at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. And they're about to get a lot better at it.

A new research center on the Carbondale campus of Southern Illinois University is getting more funds to better learn how to put on the brakes. The Center for Advanced Friction Studies, which sounds more like a think tank looking into the budget impasse in Washington, will conduct research on improved materials needed to manufacture high-friction components in the automotive and aircraft industries, such as more durable brake linings, pads, drums and rotors.

The National Science Foundation committed $1.05 million over four years to the center, the only institution of its kind in the United States. The state and industrial partners are kicking in another $2.1 million more. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs is spending $150,000 to establish the center.

"New brakes made of hybrid carbon materials are much lighter than conventional steel brakes and last two to three times longer," explains Maurice A. Wright, who has directed brake research at SIU for seven years and will head the new center.

Guided by the College of Engineering, the new center will train engineers in the new brake technology that will be used in cars, trucks, heavy equipment, airplanes and high-speed trains of the future. Students will have an opportunity to apply their research in the field with industrial partners who will work closely with the university.

The center will have a budget of $5.5 million over the next four years.

-Beverley Scobell

NEVER-ENDING STORY

DCFS: The sad saga of a troubled agency
The difficulties of the state Department of Children and Family Services — under court order to reform its care of abused and neglected children — are legendary. A case study that might serve as a metaphor for the troubled agency and its troubled times involves the ongoing effort of DCFS to discharge one of its employees. The saga of caseworker Vera DuBose, who reported that three children whose cases were assigned to her were "doing fine" a month after they had died in a fire, began more than five years ago and shows no sign of ending soon.

When DCFS fired DuBose, she and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) appealed. An arbitrator finally ruled that she should be reinstated because DCFS imposed the punishment way too late under terms of the collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME.

The timeline of major events in the case is mind-boggling:

• January 16, 1990: The children die in the fire.

• March 28, 1990: DuBose files report that the children were doing fine when she visited them in February. Two days later she is transferred to another DCFS unit.

• August 7, 1990: The caseworker who took over discovers the January deaths.

• August 20, 1990: DCFS initiates investigation and four months later reports that DuBose falsified her report and failed for three years to prepare service plans for the family in question.

• July 25, 1991: DuBose and AFSCME learn charges against her.

• September 2, 1991: Hearing officer recommends 90-day suspension. DuBose is placed on 30-day suspension, and AFSCME files a grievance.

• October 1, 1991: DuBose learns that she has been fired and AFSCME files another grievance.

• February 23, 1992: Arbitrator sustains the grievance on the issue of timeliness, and orders that DuBose be reinstated.

• September 23, 1992: Sangamon County circuit court reverses arbitrator, saying the ruling is contrary to public policy to protect children and remands for decision on the merits.

• November 4, 1992: Because DuBose stood on the earlier arbitrator's decision on timeliness, the arbitrator this time upholds the discharge. AFSCME and DuBose appeal to Cook County Circuit Court; venue is changed to Sangamon County.

• May 11, 1994: Circuit Court denies appeal.

• June 8, 1995: 4th District Appellate Court reinstates the arbitration decision of February 23, 1992.

• March 14, 1996: The Illinois Supreme Court hears arguments, with DCFS and Central Management Services arguing the public policy issue and AFSCME arguing the timeliness issue.

No one comes off looking good here, especially since the welfare of children is at issue. Stay tuned.

-F. Mark Siebert

10 ¦ May 1996 Illinois Issues

AND THE WINNER IS ...

The best government money can buy
Public office in Illinois doesn't come cheap. That is one unassailable conclusion of the Illinois Campaign Finance Project, headed by Kent Redfield, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Among the project's findings:

Total spent in 1994 for candidates for governor, statewide office, and the legislature: $63.4 million.

Total spending by legislative candidates in 1994: $18.5 million. In 1990: $9.5 million.

Fifteen most expensive House races in 1994: $7.2 million. In 1990: $3.2 million.

Most expensive House race in 1994 (both candidates): $701,000. In 1990: $322,000.

Most expensive Senate race in 1994 (both candidates): $1,345,000. In 1990: $806,000.

Number of legislative races in 1994 in which combined spending exceeded $300,000: 24. In 1990: 4.

Campaign spending in 1994 election cycle by legislative leaders:$14.3 million. In 1990: $6.7 million.

Least amount spent by winning incumbent for the House in 1994: $4,522. For the Senate: $4,911.

Largest amount of money contributed to legislative candidates by a single interest group in 1994: $1.37 million, Illinois State Medical Society. In 1990: $641,000, Illinois State Medical Society.

Largest campaign committee balance retained by a retiring legislator: $627,000.

Largest personal loan made by a former legislator to himself from leftover campaign funds: $251,000.

Most expensive automobile purchased by a legislator with campaign committee funds in 1993-94: $17,280.

Amount spent by legislative leaders' campaign committees on Chicago sports teams in 1993-94: $66,500.

-Donald Sevener

Welfare recipients to gel a taste of modern banking
Food stamps, those multicolored coupons that resemble currency from countries with a monarchy, are giving way to modern banking.

Indiana recently joined the growing number of states using "electronic benefit transfers," or EBTs in bankers' parlance, to dispense benefits to welfare recipients. Illinois is poised to follow suit. In a pilot project to begin soon in Sangamon County, welfare recipients will access their benefits with a magnetic card, like those used for ATMs. Once the pilot project is running, EBTs will move to the metro Chicago area for testing, and then go statewide in 1997.

The magnetic cards work like debit cards that transfer funds from one account to another, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that administers the food stamp program. No money and no food coupons change hands.

Forty-seven states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are either partially using or planning to use magnetic cards for welfare benefits. In New Mexico, one of two states currently operating electronic benefit transfers statewide, the monthly administrative costs dropped from $4.04 per case to $3.07 per case. The U.S. agriculture department also reported reduced costs for retailers, recipients and financial institutions. Indiana officials are predicting an immediate saving of $4 million. Illinois public aid officials predict a saving of $60 million over five years.

Two trends showing up with the increasing use of EBTs are increased food purchases and decreased applications for the food stamp program.

-Beverley Scobell

Illinois Issues May 1996 ¦ 11